Firing mechanism for guns



April 27, 1948. H. PHILLIPS FIRING MECHANISM FOR GUNS Filed March 10,1944 Inventor Harry Phillips Patented Apr. 27, 1948 FIRING MECHANISM FOR"GUNS Harry Phillips, Beverly, Mass. assignor to United Shoe MachineryCorporation, Flemington, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey ApplicationMarch 10, 1944, SerialNo. 525925 (Cl. Sil -136.)

11 Claims. 1

This invention relates to ordnance and is herein illustrated in itsapplication to plural gun mounts which are manually trained and fired.

It is axiomatic that a gun assembly should be available for action atall times and this is particularly true in the case of machine gunmounts which are so situated that no armor protection can be providedfor the gunner. A typcal example or ordnance of this general type is thetwin 50 caliber machine gun mount commonly provided for small navalcraft. In twin mounts of this type the gunner can usually remove eithergun from :its chassis .for purposes of repair or adjustment, leaving theother gun in the mount ready for service. It is an object of the presentinvention to provide a plural gun mount of this type which is soorganized that the gunner can operate the mount with both hands when onegun is absent from the mount in the same manner in which he operates itwhen all the guns are present. In the achievement of this objective Iemploy a type of gun assembly in which each gun has mounted in itsbreech portion a sear mechanism including a sear lever projectingrearwardly from the back plate, the sear lever being operated by afiring means mounted independently of the gun and movable into aninoperative position permitting removal of the gun from its chassis. Itis a further object of the invention to provide a plural gun mount inwhich the gunner can fire all of the guns in unison with his left handor right hand alternatively. Thus, if either hand of the gunner shouldbecome disabled in combat he could continue with his other hand to bringall of the guns in the assembly to bear on the target.

With the above objects in view the invention in one aspect thereofconsists in the provision in a plural gun assembly of a firing mechanismfor each gun including a soar and alternative right and left-hand meansfor operating all of the sears in unison. In the illustrated gunassembly the firing mechanism is characterized by novel meansinterconnecting the triggers whereby the guns are operable in unisonfrom any gun in the assembly. In order to permit movement of theillustrated firing mechanism for any gun in the assembly into a remoteposition, facilitating removal of the gun from its chassis, saidinterconnecting means, in accordance with a feature of the invention,comprises elements which are readily disengageable. The

novel interconnecting means, as herein illustratecl, comprises atrigger-operated rocker member and a central rocker memberdisengage'ably connected to the trigger-operated rocker member. In theillustrated dual gun assembly the two firing units are respectively supported on mounts for swiveling movement to provide clearance for themovement of either gun from its chassis, and the novel means inter--connecting said firing units comprises two rocker members projectinglaterally and inwardly from the respective firing units and a centralrocker disengageably connected to the free ends of the rocker members.feature of the invention each firing unit is movable to disengage itstrigger-operated rocker member from the central rocker without break ingthe connection of the other firing unit to the central rocker and, thus,after moving the disabled gun from its chassis through the openingprovided by movement of the firing unit, the assembly may be restored toits original con-- dition for two-hand operation by merely moving saidfiring unit back into its original position.

In the illustrated dual gun assembly the central rock shaft, inaccordance with a feature of the invention, is mounted on a supportconstructed and arranged to permit swinging movement of said rock shaftto make or break a mechanical connection with either or thetriggeractuated rock shafts. Another feature of the invention consistsin the provision of means for locking each firing unit in operativeposition without regard to the absence of either gun from the assembly.As herein illustrated, said looking means comprises a resilient latchmember which enters a suitable notch when the firing unit is broughtinto its predetermined operating position.

Invention is also to be recognized in the illustrated firing unit, perso, without regard to the nature of the assembly in which it isincorporated. In accordance with this feature of the invention thetrigger-operated rocker member is provided with means for eiTe'c'ting :aconnection with another operating mechanism which may be another firingunit or some other mechanism associated with the gun.

These and other features of the invention will now be described withreference to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the appendedclaims.

'In'the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation illustrating a dual gun assemblyincorporating the features of the present invention, certain parts beinshown in In accordance with a furthersection and other parts illustrateddiagrammatically, and a portion of the assembly broken away to providespace for Fig. 3;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation illustrating a portion of the mechanismshown in Fig. 1, the left hand firing unit being shown in itsinoperative position;

Fig. 3 is a detail View partly in section illustrating portions of afiring unit and its support ing bracket;

Fig. 4 is a side elevation showing a firing unit in relation to thebreech portion of the gun on which it operates, the gun being shown inlongitudinal section, the breech block and other parts not related tothe invention being omitted; V and Fig. 5 is a section on the line VV ofFig. 1.

The invention is herein illustrated in its application to a twin mountcarrying 50-caliber machine guns of known construction, the guns beinillustrated diagrammatically in Fig. l and identified by numerals 10.Each gun is mounted in a chassis of known construction (not shown) whichis supported on a cradle l2 illustrated by broken lines in Fig. 1. Atopposite sides the cradle IZhas upwardly extending posts M and to thetop face of each post a bracket 16 is rigidly secured. Mounted on eachbracket is a firing unit for one of the guns Ill. The firing units areof duplicate construction except that one is right hand and the otherleft hand and consequently a description of only one of said units willsufilce. Referring to Figs. 1 and 3, the illustrated firing unitcomprises a hand grip I8 secured to a cylindrical head 25) which ismounted in a bearing in the bracket Hi. The head 20 is held in positionin said bearing by an arcuate plate 22 secured to the bracket 16 andforming with an arcuate bear ing surface of the bracket a bearing forthe head 20. The firing unit is mounted for swiveling movement in saidbearing from its position illustrated in Fig. 1 to its positionillustrated in Fig. 2 to facilitate the removal of the gun I!) from itschassis. For retaining the firing unit in its operatin positionillustrated in Figs. 1, 3 and 4 a latch member herein illustrated as aspring plate 24 is secured in a recess in the plate 22 by a headed screw26, the surface of the plate 22 on which the spring plate is securedhaving a slight inclination downwardly toward the muzzle end of the gun.The free end of the spring plate 24 is seated in a notch 28 in the upperportion of a flange 36 in the head 20 when the firing unit is in itsoperative position illustrated in Figs. 1, 3 and 4. The opposite sidewalls of the notch 28 converge downwardly slightly in order that theplate 24 may seat tightly in the notch and securely hold the firing unitagainst swiveling movement when the firing unit is in its operativeposition. To facilitate manual disengagement of the plate 2 from thenotch 28 preparatory to swiveling movement of the firing unit, the freeend portion of the plate is extended beyond the flange 30, asillustrated in Fig. 3, sufficiently to enable the gunner readily to liftit out of the notch with his fingers. It will be understood that theflange 30 provides not only a notch for the plate 24 but also means forholding the firing unit against end play in its bearing in the bracket[6.

In most respects the firing mechanism is of known construction.Referring to Fig. 4 the gun I8 is provided with a common type of firingpin 32 which is retained in cocked position by a sear 34. In firing thegun a sear lever 36 is swung in a counterclockwise direction, as seen inFig. 4,

thereby swinging an intermediate lever 38 in a clockwise direction, theforward portion of the lever 38 imparting downward movement to the sear34 to release the firin pin. The sear lever 36 is of usual constructionexcept that its rearwardly extending portion MB is so arranged that itmoves downwardl into a horizontal position in releasing the firing pin.This construction of the sear lever obviates any impact on the hand gripI3 by the recoil of the gun. For operating the sear lever a trigger 42(Fig. 3) is pivotally .mounted in a slot provided in the rearwardextension 44 of the head 20, said extension providing also the anchoragefor the hand grip l8. The trigger is connected by a link 46 to lugs 48eX- tending downwardly from a collar 50 pinned to the end portion of ashaft 52. The shaft is journaled in a sleeve 54 (Fig. 1) the end portionof which is secured in a bore in the head 20, the end of the sleeve 54as shown in Fig. 1 being contiguous to the collar 50 secured to theshaft 52. The opposite end portion of the shaft 52 projects from thesleeve 54 and has mounted thereon an arm 56 (Fig. 4), said arm beingsecured to the shaft 52 by a draw bolt 58. At its free end the arm 56carries a roll 6i) which engages the rear portion 4%] of the sear lever.It will be understood that the firing mechanism is retained in itsposition illustrated in Fig. 4 by the spring 62 which acts on the searlever. This position of the firing mechanism is adjustably determined bya stop screw 54 (Fig. 3) mounted in the head 29. A screw 65, somewhatlarger in diameter than the screw 64, is mounted in a threaded counterbore 68 and serves to lock the stop screw 54 in adjusted position. Tofacilitate adjustment of the stop screw the locking screw 66 is hollowedout to permit the insertion of a suitable wrench through the screw 66into a socket in the stop screw 54. For preventing accidental firing ofthe gun a horizontal bar 10 (Fig. 1) is slidably mounted in a bracket 72secured to the back plate of the gun. In its position illustrated inFig. 1 the bar 70 interrupts counterclockwise movement of the sear lever36 and prevents accidental release of the firing pin. The bar Iii isprovided with a notch 14 (Fig. 1) which is in vertical alinement withthe sear lever 36 when the bar is at the limit of its movement to theright. When the bar H1 is positioned with its notch M in alinement withthe sear lever said lever is free to move through its full stroke andeffect the release of the firing pin.

In order that both guns may be fired simultaneously by the operation ofeither the right or the left firing unit, the shaft 52 is connected tothe corresponding shaft 76 in the right hand firing unit by a rock shaft18 each end of which is provided with a socket 8E3 which receives a ball52 at the end of a tapered extension 84 of the shaft 52, and said ballcarries a cross pin 86 (Figs. 2 and 5) which enters diametricallyopposite open ended slots 88 in the bored end portions of the rock shaft78. At each endof the rock shaft the lower portion is extended toprovide a lug 98 which is engaged by the ball 82 during movement of thefiring unit from its inoperative position illustrated in Fig. 2 to itsfiring position illustrated in Fig. 1, thereby to swing the rock shaftdownwardly into its horizontal position.

The shaft 18 is mounted for rocking movement in a barrel 92 which, asshown in Fig. 5, has diametrically opposite bosses 94 in which aremounted screws 99 the cylindrical heads of which serve as trunnion pinsfor pivotally mounting the barrel 92 in a yoke 98 at the upper end of avertical shaft toil mounted for sliding movement in a hollow post Hi2secured to the cradle II. The shaft 18 is held against endwise movementin the barrel 92 by cylind-ricalclamps or collars I03 secured .to theshaft '18 at opposite ends of the barrel 92; It is desiralole that therock shaft 78 be retained in its position of inclination (Fig. 2)effected by the movement of either firing unit into its remote orinoperative position in order that the ball 82, during return movementof the firing unit, will engage the lug 9d at the end of the rock shaft18 and return the rock shaft to its horizontal position illustrated inFig. 1. Such return movement of the rock shaft causes the insertion ofthe cross pin into the slots 8!! in the rock shaft and the realinementof the shaft 52, the rockshaft l8, and the shaft 76, as shown in Fig. 1.In the illustrated machine the vertical shaft to!) is yieldingly heldagainst vertical movement in the post )2 by a friction element in theform of .a collar Hi l surrounding the shaft MD and seated in acounterbore in the upper portion of the post 162. In order to cause itto exert a frictional action against the shaft 195! the collar 04 isforced into the counterbore in the post "32 by tightening an internallythreaded cap I96 on the threaded upper portion of the post H32, said capbeing secured in adjusted position by a lock nut 188. If the cap W5should be accidentally retracted, leaving the shaft lilo relatively freefor vertical movement in the post H32, a disk llo secured to the lowerend face of the shaft will prevent upward movement of the shaft beyond aposition in which the disk no engages the base of a counter-bore H2 atthe lower end of the post I02.

In the operation of the gun assembly the two firing units are in theirposition illustrated in Fig. l with the trigger-operated shafts 52 and16 interconnected by the rock shaft '18. The rock shaft enables thegunner to fire both guns from either the right or the left firing unit,and thus if either hand of the gunner should become disabled the gunnercould continue to fire both guns with the other hand. The rock shaft 18also causes the trig er-operated shafts 52 and 16 to operate as a unitand, consequently, the arm 56 which operates the sear lever may be soadjusted that the two guns will fire at the same instant. Thus, therewill be no tendency of the force of the backfire of either gun to swingthe gun assembly off the target.

If it should become necessary to remove one of the guns from its chassisfor any purpose, the gunner swings the firing unit for that gun into itsremote or inoperative position, illustrated in Fig. 2, after firstlifting the free end of the latch plate 24 (Fig. 3) from the notch 28.The firing unit is yieldingly retained in its inoperative position bythe friction of the spring latch plate 24 against the fiange 39 (Fig. 3)After the gun is removed from its chassis the firing unit is preferablyreturned to its operative position illustrated in Fig. 1. Thus, if thegun assembly is called into action before the disabled gun can berepaired and remounted in its chassis the gunner can, without furtheradjustment, operate the gun assembly with both hands in the usualmanner. The absence of one gun from the assembly does not prevent firingthe remaining gun from either the right or the left firing unit, asabove described.

Having thus described my invention, what I 6 claim as new and desire .tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a dual gun assembly the combination with two guns, a commoncracllefor said guns, a firing mechanism including in each gun a firing pin, ascar for operating the firing pin, and a scar lever for operating thesear, of two triggers mounted on said cradle for swiveling movement onaxes parallel to the bores of the guns, mechanism whereby said triggersoperate said sear levers respectively, and means interconnecting thetriggers comprising two rocker members constructed and arranged to beoperated by the triggers -respectively, and a central rocker memberdisengageably connecting said trigger-operated rocker members.

2. In a-dual gun assembly, two guns, two firing units, two mounts inwhich the respective firing units are supported for swiveling movementon axes parallel to the bores of the respective guns, and meansinterconnecting said firing units comprising two rocker memberprojecting laterally from the respective firing units, a central rockerdisengageably connected to the free ends of the rocker members, andmeans for mounting said central rocker independently of said rockermembers.

3. In a dual gun assembly, two firing units, each including a triggerand a shaft mounted for rocking movement by said trigger, a centralrocker connecting the twotrigger operated shafts, two members on whichthe two firing units are respectively mounted for movement to disengagethe trigger-operated shaft from the central rocker, and a mountsupporting the central rocker for pivotal movement on thetrigger-operated shafts about axes extending diametrically of saidshafts.

4. In a dual gun assembly, two firing units, each including a triggerand a rock shaft actuated by said trigger, a central rock shaftinterconnecting the two trigger-actuated rock shafts, the central rockshaft being disengageable from either trigger-operated rock shaft bymutual swinging movement of the central rock shaft and eithertrigger-operated rock shaft, and means on which the central rock shaftis supported for such swinging movement.

5. In a dual gun assembly, two guns, two firing units, each including atrigger, a rock shaft projecting lateral-1y from each unit, means ineach unit whereby the trigger actuates the rock shaft, a central rockshaft interconnecting said triggeractuated rock shafts, said three rockshafts having interlocking connections constructed and arranged topermit disengagement of either trigger-actuated rock shaft from thecentral rock shaft and means on which the firing units are respectivelymounted for swiveling movement on axes parallel to the bores of the gunsthereby to disengage said trigger-actuated rock shaft from said centralrock shaft.

6. In a dual gun assembly, two firing units, each including a trigger, arock shaft projecting laterally from the firing unit and meansoperatively connecting the trigger and the rock shaft, a central rockshaft interconnecting said firing units, means providing mechanicalconnections between the central rock shaft and each triggeractuated rockshaft, and a support on which said central =rock shaft is mounted forswinging movement to make or break the mechanical connection with one ofsaid laterally projecting rock shafts.

'7. In a dual gun assembly, two firing units,

each including a trigger, a rock shaft projecting laterally from thefiring unit and means operatively connecting the trigger and the rockshaft, a central rock shaft interconnecting said firing units, meansproviding mechanical connections between the central rock shaft and eachtriggeractuated rook shaft, a support on which said central rock shaftis mounted for swinging movement to make or break its mechanicalconnection with either one of said trigger-actuated rock shafts, amember in which said support is mounted for sliding movement, and afriction element for yieldingly resisting such sliding movement of saidsupport.

8. In a gun assembly, a gun, a scar lever for operating said gun, afiring unit for operating the sear lever, a support for said firing unitoifset laterally from the gun, said firing unit being mounted on thesupport for swinging movement about an axis parallel to the bore of thegun, a trigger in said firing unit, a "rock shaft projecting laterallyfrom said firing unit, means operatively connecting the trigger and therock shaft, means mounted .on said rock shaft arranged to actuate thesear lever, a second firing unit and operating mechanism thereforincluding a rocker and an extension of said rock shaft, said rocker andsaid extension being constructed and arranged for mutual engagement anddisengagement, and a support on which said rocker is mounted forswinging movement to eifect such engagement and disengagement of saidrocker and said extension.

9. The combination with a gun having a firing pin, a scar for operatingthe firing pin and a sear lever for operating the sear, of a cradle inwhich the gun is mounted and from which it is removable by movement inthe direction of the recoil of the gun, a firing unit mounted on saidcradle and movable thereon from a position in which it is located inlongitudinal alinement with the gun into a position in which it is outof such alinement and thus afiords clearance for the removal of saidgun, said firing unit including a member which is arranged to engage andoperate the sea-r lever when the firing unit is in its position oflongitudinal alinement with the gun.

10. The combination with a gun having a firing pin, a sear for operatingthe firing pin and a sear lever for operating the sear, of a cradle inwhich the gun is mounted and from which it is removable by movement inthe direction of the recoil of the gun, a firing unit mounted on saidcradle and movable thereon from a position in which it is located inlongitudinal alinement with the gun into a position in which it is outof such alinement and thus affords clearance for the removal of saidgun, said firing unit including a member which is arranged to engage andoperate the sear lever when the firing unit is in its position oflongitudinal alinement with the gun, and means for determining andmaintaining said position of longitudinal alinement of said firing unit.

11. In a dual gun assembly comprising two guns provided respectivelywith firing pins, sears for operating said firing pins, and sear leversfor operating said sears, the combination with a common cradle in whichsaid guns are mounted and from which they are individually removable bymovement in the direction of the recoil of the gun, of a right-handfiring unit mounted on said cradle, a left-hand firing unit mounted onsaid cradle, both said firing units being movable on the cradle frompositions in which they are located in longitudinal alinement with therespective guns into positions in which they are out of such alinementand thus afford clearance for the removal of said guns, members in saidfiring units arranged to operate the respective sear levers when saidfiring units are in their respective positions of longitudinal alinementwith the guns, and means whereby the members which operate the searlevers are interconnected when they are located in longitudinalalinement with the guns, thereby to cause them to operate in unison.

HARRY PHILLIPS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

I UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,087,371 Heinemann Feb. 17,1914 1,284,713 Krup'pa Nov. 12, 1918 1,446,635 Berthier Feb. 27, 19231,498,186 Meden June 17, 1924 1,628,226 Browning May 10, 1927 2,236,335Dugied Mar. 25, 1941 2,318,130 Trotter May 4, 1943 2,329,668 TrimbachSept. 14, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 124,008 Great BritainMar. 10, 1919

